Eliminate Waste? Prevent Waste?

In a conversation with a colleague an intriguing thought came up. Is Lean about eliminating waste or about creating a system that prevents waste in the first place? I think that is the difference between continuous improvement (kaizen) and step-change improvement (kaikaku). Kaizen tries to reduce the waste in the current system. Kaikaku creates a new system with no waste built in.

In the end you need both. Too many trundle on with kaizen and never make the step-changes they need to. Similarly, many make big changes and then sit on their laurels for years wondering why the world is passing them by.